With close to 32,000 registered visitors, over 1,100 exhibitors, and over 110 airplanes at the outside airport display, it was a record year for the October 2006 annual National  Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention in Orlando, Florida.  For our watch of the air taxi scene, the subjects of interest were the VLJs (Very Light Jets), and the SATSair air taxi service.  

No VLJs are flying in air taxi operations yet.  The first one anticipated is the Eclipse 500 to be used by on-demand carrier DayJet in Florida beginning about March 2007.  A number of VLJs were on display, either as mock-ups, or the real thing (see our photos of the prospective ones for air taxi services).  Executives of manufacturers Honda, Eclipse, and Embraer used the term "air taxi" in their remarks about their aircraft.  Brazilian firm Embraer presented an information session devoted to a display comparing the cost of flying to a two hour meeting in Birmingham, Alabama from St. Louis, Missouri via Atlanta by airline, direct by today's charter, and direct by air taxi (future, using Embraer's Phenom 100).  Their example showed a cost of $1646, using the airline, which includes air fare, meals, and overnight hotel.  The charter cost used was $8000 (same day return).  The air taxi estimate was $2100 (same day return).  Their point was that the spread between the charter price and the air taxi price is so much greater than the increase in air taxi price over the airline option.  In designing its Phenom 100/300 models for air taxi usage, Embraer is stressing premium comfort (BMW designed interior), high utilization, dispatch reliability, and low operating cost.  

Vern Raburn, CEO of Eclipse Aviation, in the Very Light Jet Panel Discussion made the case for need of planes like his Eclipse 500.  He says the market is "starved" for this kind of aircraft, as replacement for aging business aircraft (average age 36 years), for air taxi/charter use, same-day delivery, and training.  He commented that the workforce is shifting to professionals providing service and information.  People are moving -- 25 major cities are shrinking.  Local airports will be economically relevant to the growing communities.  And, the value proposition of the VLJ is simply to offer more for less.  

Of all the VLJs on display the most memorable feature I saw falls into the "little things say a lot" department.  Sitting in a passenger seat in the Diamond D-Jet mock-up, I glanced down to see a grab bar fashioned into the fuselage molding next to the seat.  A thoughtful touch, I thought, and a reminder that turbulence can be a part of the flying experience -- maybe a bit more so in a smaller plane.  Another element noted is that there was head room, while seated, for me (just over 6 feet tall) in all the ones I tried, except the PiperJet.

While we wait for VLJ air taxi operations, SATSair with propeller Cirrus planes continues to grow in the Southeast, and CEO Steve Hanvey announced at the convention the start of service to over 100 airports in Florida on November 1st.  It is adding 100 aircraft to the existing fleet of 26, and is partnering with Avis/Budget car rental to offer door-to-door service.  It has been suggested that it will be a while until there is air taxi for the masses, however, SATSair, with its relatively low cost structure (under $600/hour from engine start to stop), is moving closer as evidenced by these recent customer trips.  In Charlestown, South Carolina, a mother of a teenager, who missed the bus for a school field trip to Williamsburg, Virginia, booked a flight for alternate transport (the plane beat the bus).  On another, a child was flown to a sports game.  Parents booked flights from and to Nashville, Tennessee to bring their daughter home for a weekend visit from college.  Two separate 15 minute flights were booked from Manassas to Danville, Virginia to pick up blind dates.  Another flight from Greenville to Charleston, South Carolina carried a man to a dinner date to propose to his future wife.  Still another trip was quickly arranged from Wilmington, North Carolina to Atlanta, Georgia to deliver a passport left behind by someone leaving to travel overseas.  A chat with Hanvey and Phil Quist, Vice President of Business Systems revealed these not-so-ordinary examples of air taxi or charter use as we've known it.

Since beginning in July 2005, SATSair has flown six million passenger miles, averages 1.4 hour flights and 1000 passengers per month serving 400 airports, and Hanvey says no upset-stomach bag has been used yet.  Maybe small plane turbulence isn't that bad after all.   

11/5/06
 

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